Few redeeming qualities can be found in this film. Here’s the difficult part: I like Will Smith. Say what you will about whatever summer blockbuster he has brought us in the past few years, but there is no doubt that he is a big name, makes relatively good choices, and is a great actor. We all fell in love with him during his years as our beloved Fresh Prince, but really got to know him as his film career started. Bad Boys made him into a full fledged action star, Independence Day endeared him to audiences all over the world, Ali made him into A-List material, Men in Black entertained us all, and The Pursuit of Happyness made all of us cry. He has excited us, made us laugh, made us cry, and even scared us with I Am Legend. I think he ran out of emotions and went with “anger” and “disappointment” this time around with 2008’s Will Smith summer movie Hancock.
Hancock starts out with a chase scene that drops you right into the action. This is a superhero movie afterall, right? Let’s see this guy fight some crime. We cut to Hancock sleeping on a bus stop bench just like he is in the huge marketing campaign that you no doubt have seen if you have left the house in the last month or so. An eerie looking child wakes him up and points to some televisions and says “Hancock, bad guys”.
Here’s where the film started to lose me: Hancock (Will Smith) takes off (leaving broken pieces pavement in his leave, as he does throughout the film) and destroys what looks like millions of dollars worth of property on the way to stop the criminals on the run. “Move, Bitch” starts playing. That’s right. “Move, Bitch” (“MOVE, BITCH! Get out the way! Get out the way!…”). The tastelessly placed song that ruined the first trailer of this film for me was playing. Songs with such pervasive lyrics tend to take over a scene; and unless you’re intending for the song to be the primary focus and for your audience to take a break from your film making in order to enjoy the song being sung, then that’s a fine choice. If a film maker thinks “it’s kind of funny” to have a song that aligns with what is going on, then that music supervisor should pretty much be fired. That level of cheese is unforgivable in modern superhero movies. Especially in a summer where films like Dark Knight, Iron Man, and Hulk are taking the stories, and the characters seriously.
Remember in the Iron Man trailer when Tony Stark comes out in his Iron Man suit and destroys everything to the song Iron Man? I was ringing my own hands in fear that this song, adding this level of cheese, would destroy that part of that film. Thankfully, Favreau and co. were smart enough to let the film speak for itself (despite its one-power chord score). Hancock not only made this mistake, but kept making it throughout the film. The song “Move, Bitch” is credited twice in the film at the end credits
Needless to say, the rest of the music in the film was atrocious. From ill-chosen hip-hop hits to John Williams Superman clones, this film’s music was one of its biggest downfalls. Except, of course, for one of the most important parts – the script
There is very little, if any, plot in this film. Sure, there is character development, but let’s not mistake that for a story. The film pulls you in three different directions and places you in scenes instead of bringing you to them. We are supposed to have started the film with some kind of caring about this character, when he has not endeared himself to us from the very beginning. This is the film’s biggest mistake. It drops the characters and the story on you as if it were a comic book movie (and this also isn’t ok for comic book movies to do, by the way).
We’re supposed to care about Will Smith’s character and the fact that he’s going through something, because he is, after all, the title character. We are not given a reason, other than the film is being told from his perspective.
After his incarceration, the (100% predictable) revelation of Charlize Theron’s character’s powers, and the introduction of (a very poor excuse for) a villain, we are left with a film absolutely devoid of what would have made it good. There is no tension, there is no sense of danger for any of the characters, and there is no sense of purpose. Why do we care if Hancock does well with the public? So we can have a good viewing experience?
We know Charlize Theron’s character is going to be a bad guy, so we wait for that once the hints are dropped. We get there in the film, and they fight for seemingly no reason other than anger, and then there are no real consequences or conflict beyond Hancock’s origin?
A one-handed bald guy with a gun? Really? That’s the end villain/conflict for this film? Sure he has to save the life of his superhero companion, but if she was so worried about his well being, why didn’t she just leave town so he could get better sooner?
The plot holes, lack of emotional involvement on the audience’s part, the music, and the horrible lines (“Are you a crackpot?!” was actually a punchline in this film) make Hancock the most disappointing experience of this summer.
Here’s the worst part: I wasn’t really expecting very much, if anything, at all. This film was not just bad, it was Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer bad. It was bad because it gives more ammo to those who “don’t want to see another superhero movie as long as they live”. It was bad because it was a relatively sound premise with a great cast and a hell of a lot of money behind it that could have been great if it just had some time, care, and creative effort put into it beyond the “realistic” breaking of the streets during take-offs and landings.
The concept introduced in Hancock of superpowered beings that have been around for thousands of years being dwindled down to only two and whose weakness is being around the one they were meant to love is great. That sentence sounds like there would be a great story to tell there and the saddest part is that there is. The disappointing part is that Will Smith’s Hancock didn’t tell it.
You should skip this movie and rent it if you really need to. Just don’t support movies like this one that take the superhero movie genre into the quality-abyss that would have been ok a few years ago. If Hancock was made a few years ago, then it would have been taken as ok; but with Iron Man, Hulk, and the Batman franchises breathing quality back into the Superhero genre Hancock really should have stepped it up. Don’t support films doing that, because in this downward spiral towards special effects and CGI extravaganzas over good quality films, a good story is hard to come by; and we’re definitely getting there with superhero movies, but I don’t want the bad ones to keep being made and neither do you. Your dollar is your vote in how the coming summers will treat us. Vote wisely. Rent this or borrow it from a friend.